A LABRADOR SPRING 
narrow lane, fences sometimes consisting of 
seven or eight bars, was to keep the cattle 
from the little garden plots of which each 
house boasted. 
The first of June appeared to be the begin- 
ning of the spring season with the agricultural- 
ists of Esquimaux Point, for at this date the 
tilling of the gardens began. With the aid of 
broad bladed mattocks, deep furrows were made 
in the dark peaty and sandy soil, the women 
working side by side with the men, if haply 
these latter were not engaged with their boats, 
and the familiar pictures of French peasantry 
were at once suggested. The soil is enriched 
with dark, strong-smelling seaweed brought by 
boats from the islands, and the seeds planted; 
turnips and cabbages, salads, radishes and pota- 
toes were the chief crops. The rhubarb was just 
beginning at this date to peep above the 
ground. 
Near the houses large black pots were often 
hung for the purpose of washing clothes, and 
a few open air ovens were to be seen, although 
the modern stoves had almost entirely crowded 
out these picturesque relics of the past. 
The fourth of June seemed to be an es- 
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